


Going Down

by Tsula



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Attempted Murder, Death, Destruction, Explosions, F/M, Humor, Joker Mayhem, Romance, Thriller, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-19 02:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3592890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsula/pseuds/Tsula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There really is nothing quite like spending a night with a madman to make you question your choices in life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting the Madman

**Author's Note:**

> A revised posting of a story I have on my other website accounts. x3 I finally got around to revising something! Yay me!

It wasn't often that you had the privilege of helping someone as famous, or infamous as Batman. He really wasn't the type to reach out for help and if something needed to be done, some danger taken care of, he generally flew solo. 

Every now and then though, he would appear almost magically to seek out your 'expertise'. After all, there really weren’t too many people in town with your particular set of skills. There were plenty of hackers, but not very many that could take down the kind of security that you specialized in. There wasn’t a system in all of Gotham that could keep you out. 

The very first time he showed up you had been scared to death that he was going to throw you in jail. While you did not consider yourself insidious or black hat by any means, what you were doing was not technically legal. You often fell into the gray area of ethics on your own time to test your skills and keep them sharp. Yet, rather than turning you into the authorities he did something much more surprising. He offered you an interesting little challenge instead. 

After that, you were always on the look out for Gotham’s dark knight, constantly hoping to see him again. Life was just so dull when you were a little too smart for normal work and whenever he was around it meant he had brought yet another deliciously difficult puzzle to solve. 

So when he called that evening out of the blue, you were ready and willing to drop everything to help. When you met him at the arranged location however, he had a _friend_ with him.

A very notorious and dangerous _friend_.

~~*~*~*~~

The three of you were walking down the hall of an old building on the outskirts of Gotham. It hadn’t looked particularly large nor impressive from the outside and was even less so inside. It might have been interesting at one point, but it had fallen into a terrible state of disrepair and neglect. 

Batman his usual silent and brooding self while the Joker chattered away. It was your first time meeting someone like him and he was far from what you’d expected. On sight you had known exactly who he was and that you should keep your distance even with Batman at your side. However, he was much more interesting than you would have thought and had a tendency to say very amusing things. Sadly, your amusement was just a little too hard to keep under wraps, as he really was quite a character. 

That one little smile you unintentionally let slip did not go unnoticed by him either. Apparently he was either very observant or simply more interested in you than his surroundings. Which was a strangely flattering thought in itself, regardless of how droll the building was. It would have made more sense for him to wonder at where he was being led rather than to note that he was amusing you. Though, ‘sensible’ really wasn’t a word that fit when it came to the Joker. 

"I think she likes me~" He chortled to the Batman and you rolled your eyes at his remark while fighting yet another smile.

"What's to like?" Your somewhat amused question redirected his attention right back to you.

"Perhaps it's my charming sense of humor~" He laughed loudly at this before his voice became more serious and, to be honest, a little thrilling. "Or maybe my dashing good looks."

"Keep walking." Batman forced him onward as he slowed to get a bit closer to you.

"Bah! Such a buzzkill, Bats! Can't you see we're having a conversation here!?" His exasperation was honestly hilarious, which was what caused you to slip and giggle. 

This made the Joker very pleased indeed and he cackled with glee, sending Batman a look that was almost smug. "As I said: she likes me." 

You snickered as Batman shoved him into the elevator. "Sorry, he really is amusing."

Naturally, the dark knight did not respond to this—he rarely spoke much even when it was just the two of you. Though the Joker was more than willing to keep up the entertainment on this little venture as you followed in behind them.

"So, what brings you to such a romantic spot?" His sarcasm was oddly endearing. The dark elevator of this dingy abandoned building was so far from 'romantic' that you almost slipped up and laughed again. 

"I'm tempted to yank your chain a bit with my answer; but, I'll be honest... I get bored easily." You were leaning back against the rusty steel wall feeling grateful to have someone distracting you during the ride. The noise the elevator was making did not sit well with you at all. "I'm looking for a thrill."

"My, my," Something about his sly tone gave you chills and so did the fact that he was leaning towards you. Not that he had much leeway on his 'leash'. Still though, there wasn't much space in the elevator and it put you quite close. "We have so much in common." He looked back at Batman who was still holding tight to the shackles, but he seemed to be paying you both little mind. "How about you dump the Bat and play for my team instead? I'll show you a _real_ good time."

You looked between him and Batman for a moment before leaning forward to whisper. "I think he can hear us!"

This made the Joker laugh and you grinned at the response. "Where, oh where, did you find this little gem, Bats?"

What an interesting night this was turning out to be. You never would have considered spending your time chatting with a mass-murderer or that you would end up enjoying such a thing. He should have scared you into silence, but he was so… odd. Not exactly in a bad way either as he tickled at your curiosity and interest with every word and gesture. He was the type of man you shouldn’t have even wanted to be near and yet his personality was practically magnetic. 

Batman, for the most part, continued to ignore the two of you. Though he did pull Joker back when he started leaning too close to you again, which caused the clown to roll his eyes in what seemed to be in exasperation. Even such a small gesture from him was humorous. If he wasn’t such a monster he would be fairly irresistible—a thought that was nearly as amusing as he was. 

“You are just the life of the party tonight, Bats!” He chided before giving you a look. “A woman like you should have better taste.” The remark came out on the deeper end of his range of tones, but then he sighed almost wistfully. “Good girls always do seem to fall for the would-be hero type.”

This made you laugh again; he really was good at that.

"Who says I'm a good girl?" You winked playfully and he looked positively thrilled.

"Ah, you little minx~" His gleeful tone made you positively giddy—this was just too much fun. “You really are my type of woman.”

The elevator came to a screeching stop causing you to stagger forward right into Joker's chest. In fact you had to go so far as to grip the front of his suit to keep yourself from toppling over. The notion that you were pressed up against the most dangerous man in Gotham wasn’t even the most horrifying or embarrassing thing about the situation though. It fell short compared to your worry that the elevator was going to crash and the shock of realizing that you liked the feel of him. Even through the suit you could tell that he was fit, however you did your very best to banish that fact to the depths of your mind. It was bad enough that you liked talking to him, it would be quite terrible if you developed some sort of crush. 

Apparently having drawn the same conclusion about just why the elevator had come to such a sudden stop, you and Batman both glanced at the Joker.

"Well, it certainly wasn't me." Somehow you doubted that statement was entirely true, though he very well could have been smirking like that because you were still pressed against his chest. Maybe he could even tell that you enjoyed being there. 

That thought made you want to slam your head against something— _hard_. 

The lights flickered a few times and it only served to make you even more edgy. You backed up to the wall and held the railing with a death grip as Batman locked the Joker to the adjacent rail and climbed up on top of the elevator. You watched him until he was out of sight and then your eyes fell back to Joker as if drawn to that spot. Really, you should have looked anywhere else, especially since your face felt more than a little warm. 

He looked just as calm as could be, but that wasn't what unsettled you. It was the fact that he was looking right at you. 

The elevator dropped just a little suddenly and the lights went out longer than usual. Neither of which helped your nerves. You gripped the rails tightly on either side and bit back the urge to scream and swear. Of all the ways to die, an elevator was certainly one of the worst that you could think of. The Joker grinned a devious little smile, amused at seeing you suddenly so rattled.

"So how's it going up there?" You called and felt a smidge of relief when your voice came out fairly normal. 

Batman didn't answer but he did slip back inside just in time for the elevator to start moving again. You sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. I've never really fancied the idea of being a human pancake." 

Joker snorted at your remark and Batman actually looked like he was about to say something, but then the doors opened and suddenly everything went to Hell.

You hardly had a chance to see anything outside the elevator before the path ahead became a wall of bodies pressing in and blocking any chance of escape. A split second of indecision had you torn between kicking the close door button to try and keep them out or getting behind Batman so he could handle things. Sadly both options were promptly squashed. You hadn't even noticed that they had thrown something until Batman collapsed beside you.

There were darts sticking out of his costume, having been thrown hard enough to apparently pierce it. You had only a moment of stunned horror to realize that at least one of those darts had been meant for you before the elevator got just a little fuller. 

So the Batman was unconscious, you were surrounded by goons, and a quick glance over showed the Joker was being set free. You were a smart girl, but you were no fighter. Without the Batman there didn’t seem to be a way out that didn’t involve getting killed or captured, though you still tried to think of one regardless. You were just calculating your chances in a fight with these guys when someone threw their arm around your shoulders, pulling you into their chest. It only took a matter of seconds to realize who it was—the cackle was a dead giveaway.

"Looks like you're all mine now." His tone was dark and made you very wary of his intentions. Regardless of how you felt about his personality—or his body for that matter—being unprotected and in his clutches changed the game entirely. It was no longer an even playing field, because now he held all the cards. 

There was no choice but to let him lead you away as his men took off the unconscious Batman. As he said, he had you all to himself now and there was nothing anyone could do about it. 

Suddenly all that playful banter seemed very foolish indeed.


	2. Deadly Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Joker plays his first hand and leaves you to make a terrible choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever notice how Batman never seems to stay knocked out for long? xD

So there you were: defenseless, unarmed, and being led deeper into the underbelly of the building by the Joker himself. It would have been a lie to say that you weren't afraid or that you had high hopes of making it topside alive. However, you were trying to look brave about the whole situation. It was unlikely that this was at all convincing though, especially given that underneath the façade you were completely freaking out. 

Sure, the man had been loads fun to chat with and was certainly more than a little attractive in his own, strange sort of way; but you knew what he _did_ to people. He had a hefty death toll attached to his name and you were very aware that you had a good chance of being another notch in his belt. Worse yet, there didn’t seem to be a damn thing you could do about it. His grip on your arm made it very clear that he was much stronger than you were—just how much you really did not want to know. 

Every time you tried to consider running you would snag on the problem of actually getting away from him. His grip wasn’t exactly painful as he drug you down the long gray-walled hall, but it was proof of just how unlikely it was you could break his grip. Even as his men branched off down another hall with their unconscious prize, your chances of escape did not increase even slightly. 

Joker hadn't looked at you once since he started walking and you weren't sure if that was good or bad. He hummed a tune to fill the silence—one that sounded vaguely familiar—and his carefree attitude had your stomach tied up in painful little knots. He’d been much like this before, but it was vastly different without the handcuffs and the ever watchful vigilante to keep him in line. 

As you reached the end of the hallway he pushed open the doors and you caught only a glimpse of the wide room before the brightness of it left you blind. What little you saw was big and white—very different from the long gray hallway with its dim yellow glow. 

You shielded your eyes with your free arm while stumbling blindly in the Joker's wake. The whole time you were unable to see you expected to run into something or trip and fall. However, Joker seemed to either be able to see just fine or simply knew the place well enough to navigate you both safely. So by the time your eyes cleared, you were nearly out of the room. You looked around quickly and found that it was a large, mostly empty area with scattered chairs and a couple of oddly placed desks. At some point it was likely some sort of office, but most of the furniture had been cleared out. 

The curiosity started to beat back the fear as you wondered even more furiously just where it was you were and also where the Joker was going. You were so sorely tempted to just ask him that you could _feel_ the words on your tongue; but you were loathe to be the one who broke the silence. There was just no telling what he might do and frankly, you weren’t sure you wanted to know just what he was thinking. 

He stopped so suddenly you walked right into his back. The knots in your stomach tightened as you looked up at him nervously, but he wasn't looking at you. His eyes were across the room and he looked very amused. 

One quick glance around his shoulder told you why—Batman was back. Whatever it was they’d drugged him with certainly hadn’t lasted as long as they’d hoped. Maybe he had built up a tolerance, or maybe he was just as superhuman as many people claimed. Either way, you couldn’t have been happier to see him. 

The big light overhead shattered suddenly and plunged the room into a hazy orange glow. Batman came forward looking very menacing and even terrifying under the dim lighting. He looked like something right out of a nightmare with all the shadows coiling around him. The Joker did not look afraid though, honestly you couldn’t picture a man like him fearing anything. Not even the man who sent other villains running. 

Whatever hope you had at the sight of your rescuer was crushed as something dropped out of the ceiling. 

A massive metal cage caught itself a bat and the room flooded with more of Joker’s clown-masked lackies. It was enough to make you want to scream—he’d been so damn close! Apparently though, the Joker was not only unpredictable, but had planned for intrusions. It was blatently obvious that this building, whatever it was for, was part of the clown’s turf. This raised the questions of why Batman had come here and also why he needed to bring you along as well, but you certainly couldn’t ask him given the situation. 

Joker tugged you along once more as his men gathered around the cage with all sorts of terrible little weapons at their disposal. 

"Sorry Bats, she's mine now." He cackled as he led you out of the room. "Come on, sweetheart: you don't want to see what happens next."

There was that dark tone again. You shivered at the thought of what he had planned for the dark knight.

~*~~*~~*~

Your worries about Batman however, were quickly trumped by the fear of what the Joker intended to do with you. Unlike the bat you did not have an arsenal of weapons or kick ass martial arts moves at your disposal. You were a glorified computer nerd who barely managed to make it to the gym twice a week. In hindsight it probably would have been a good idea to have taken those Krav Maga classes when you’d had the chance.

Once again the trip was silent to the point of unnerving. Joker had been so chatty in the elevator and yet he'd become so grimly silent when the two of you were alone. You wondered if he wouldn't just suddenly turn and knife you at any given moment. Yet another thought that left you ill from the coil of tension in your gut. 

The urge to run was overwhelming, to the point you almost couldn’t hold it back with rationalizing. You wanted to just yank your arm out of his grip and make a break for it. Nevermind the fact that he was too strong, that the room behind was full of his men, and that you probably wouldn’t even make it to the elevator. Even if you did, it was all too easy to imagine the terrifying wait for those doors to open if it wasn’t still on the same floor—with your luck it was probably back up top. You could picture the Joker’s casual stroll down the hallway as you frantically pressed the button, praying that the doors would open before he got too close. He’d whistle a little tune as he walked, not the least bit concerned about your escape because he knew he would get there first. 

The thought made you shiver—it was not at all a good plan. You would either have to wait and hope that Batman could save the day or hold out for a better opportunity to escape. Both options seemed to hinge on Batman surviving the onslaught and making trouble for the Joker though. 

There was never any doubt that he would come after you, of course; the doubt was whether or not he’d survive. 

You almost didn't notice when the Joker led you into another room. Your thoughts of escape and the flashes of what the madman might be planning kept dominating your attention. 

However, the sound of the door closing behind you both and the shock of him releasing his hold on your arm jolted you from your thoughts. He hummed that same tune again—it was very familiar—as he walked to a large stretch of wall that looked like a dark mirror. It took a moment to realize it was a window into a room that was entirely devoid of light, rather than an instrument of reflection. 

Though the Joker soon remedied the darkness by flipping on a switch nearby. Right away you could see everything in the small, square room beyond. There was no indication left of what the room had been used for in the past—what any of these rooms had been for really—but you certainly knew what he was doing with it now. 

Against the far wall of the other room was a man in shackles. There was very little you could see of his face as he held his hands up against it to block out the light. What you could tell was that he looked ragged and that he was cuffed in front and had a collar with a long chain holding him to the wall. He wore a ripped and stained black suit and a white shirt underneath that was tinted with splotches of red that you suspected might be blood.

He looked so horribly ravaged and afraid. His whole body was trembling as he blocked out the blinding light and even without seeing his face you could tell that he had the look of someone who had lost a lot of weight very fast—that expensive suit looked several sizes too large for him. 

You shot a glance towards the Joker and found that he was looking at you with a speculative expression that you really didn't like. He seemed to be in no hurry though to tell you what he had planned and you were torn between several striking emotions when it came to how you felt about that. The worst of which were fear, anger, and that damnedable curiosity.

Finally though, as the silence continued to drag on and your stomach wrapped itself in tighter knots, the latter won out. "Did you need something?"

His lips quirked and you weren't sure if that was a good thing; but it at least made you feel a little safer than his thoughtful, scheming look. 

"Our guest here hasn't live up to my expectations." He sighed as if he were truly put out by this. "He's been given so many chances and he's thrown them all away! So I'm afraid it's time to put him down." It was amazing how quickly his tone could change and how easily he shifted moods. One moment he sounded sad, the next chastising, and then suddenly gleeful. It was a little disorienting. "What do you say toots, want to give it a shot?" 

He was asking you? The shock of that realization was like an electric jolt, as if you’d grabbed an exposed wire. The major difference being that you couldn’t seem to let it go and the feeling just grew stronger over time. He was serious, wasn’t he? 

"Come now, don't be shy. The choice is aaaaaall yours~" It seemed he actually was asking you how to go about ‘putting down’ the man in the room. "Will you go the traditional route or think of something wild? The suspense is killing me!"

A horrible feeling was creeping its way from your stomach to your chest that had little to do with the shock and a lot to do with the idea of ending someone’s life. "I—I've never really killed anyone, or been the one to decide how they die."

"Would it help if I said he was a horrible, awful person?" He offered and for a moment you considered this. Would it actually make any difference if he was a bad person? Would it change the fact that you'd be the one who decided how he died? It seemed like it might in theory, but you weren’t sure if it would in actuality—there’d really be only one way to find that out. 

"Is he?" You asked softly and his lips quirked again making your heart jump and sprint. 

"I haven't the faintest idea~" Was his cackling reply.

The anger briefly outweighed the fear and nervousness and it could be heard in your tone. "Then no, it wouldn't help." 

This seemed to amuse the hell out of him, but it was hardly as endearing as it had been before all this madness. 

You didn't want any part of this insanity, but telling someone like him ‘no’ was tantamount to shouting ‘kill me’. He was not the type to handle rejection well and exactly the type who got exactly what he wanted by any means necessary. Trying to get out of doing as he said was liable to piss him off and that was about the worst thing you could do in this situation. So long as he was amused by you there seemed to be some small hope of survival. However, people who got in the way tended to end up dead or far worse from what you’ve heard. You wondered just what it was this man in the other room did to get on the Joker's bad side. All he said was that he'd had many chances for something or other and that didn't give you much to go on. 

You stared at the trembling man on the other side of the glass and watched his eyes dart around the room. They looked wild when the light gleamed off them, like those of a trapped feral beast. Was that the point of chaining him up in that room? To reduce him to something that seemed less than human?

It really didn't seem like the Joker had a problem with killing humans though, so maybe he’d had some plan to force the murder onto someone else all along. You just had the misfortune of being the one he chose apparently. For the moment he was only asking you to choose the method, but it was not much of a leap to imagine him making you do the deed yourself. The thought made you suddenly very ill.

You'd seen enough movies and read enough books to be able to think of a lot of ways to kill someone. It really wasn't hard to imagine any of it. What _was_ hard was imagining doing it yourself or witnessing it first hand.

Fiction is one thing, but reality is an entirely different monster. Watching a real person die a real, horrible death was something else entirely, and to be the one who decides something like that… You didn't know how you were supposed to do it even if it was probably your only hope of surviving this nightmare.

The Joker snickered suddenly as he grabbed your arm once more and shoved you right into the other room. "Go on, don't be shy!" 

The door seemed so loud as he shut it, leaving you trapped in the room with a man you were supposed to condemn to death.


	3. Damsel in Distress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The situation grows more dire and leaves you with the choice of likely dying or being saved by a monster whose intentions were still unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go~ all the chapters are revised and now they are caught up between the three sites I post on. :3 This is turning out to be a pretty productive day for me.

You stood near that door frozen in indecision and dread just wishing that it would open back up so you could run away from all of this. That you could flee from that small, bright prison and never look back. The Joker was enjoying his game far too much though to just let you escape and he was much to cruel to just let you go regardless. So you had no choice but to step forward towards the chained man even as the horror built in your chest with each step, suffocating you more and more the closer you came to him. 

How were you supposed to choose how this man died? He was a stranger, but that made it no less awful. You wrung your hands in indecision as you inched forward slowly, all the while under his watchful glare. It was startling how hateful it looked, as if he could tell exactly what purpose you were there to fulfill. His whole body was shaking with violent tremors and at first you thought it was from fear. You thought he was trying to look angry to hide his terror because he felt death approaching in your wake.

How very wrong you were.

" _I'll kill you!!_ " His shriek was horrifying and startling. He had these wild, mad eyes that made him look more animal than man and with his teeth showing in that grimace of rage you felt absolutely terrified of this guy. It didn't even matter that he was bound and that you were out of his reach. Just being in the room with someone so angry and vicious was like something straight out of a nightmare. 

You shrank back against the far wall as he yanked violently against his chains like a rabid dog. If he got free you had no doubt at all that he would rip you apart like one as well. This was so far from what you’d been expecting that you honestly had no idea how to react other than staying there against the wall. You pressed so tightly against it to put distance between yourself and the beast of a man, wishing that you could just fall right through it to escape. 

Suddenly you were very grateful for the chains. They held fast against him as he lunged relentless towards you, apparently so far beyond reason that he was acting on baser instincts alone. If not for his restraints he would have already gotten his hands on you and there was no question about what would have happened then. The man was deranged and dangerous. 

He was so obsessed with the furious desire to kill you that he didn't even notice the other person in the room. At least until he was forced to.

He fell back for a moment after a particularly forceful lunge and the Joker stepped on the chain when it slacked. This yanked the man to the ground and caused him to choke as he fell. 

"Now, that's no way to treat a lady." The Joker looked somehow more menacing than ever with that wicked grin of his. 

Seeing him seemed to sober the man right up with a heavy dose of terror. He whimpered looking up at the menacing figure standing over him and you couldn't rightly blame the man. The Joker was terrifying enough to scare even the most dangerous of criminals. 

Joker tsked loudly as he stared down at the chained and whimpering prisoner. "You _really_ shouldn't have done that, Jack—what was you’re name, wasn’t it?" His cackle was dark and foreboding as he sent you a short but meaningful look. "See, I've given _her_ —that pretty little thing right over there—complete control over how you die." He lifted his shoe letting off the mans chain as he walked towards you. "You probably should have been a little _nicer_."

All too soon he was right in front of you, his hands on either side of the wall near your head. "So what'll it be, sweetheart?"

You looked him dead in the eye feeling all sorts of ways about this situation. You were scared, angry, confused, and more than a little flustered at his closeness. There was even a tinge of relief coloring your thoughts. Because, for the moment, he was the least threatening of the men in the room. You actually felt safer with him there than without, but was a confusing feeling to say the least. Especially given how close he was and the fact that you could feel his breath against your lips. 

The longer you stared him down in silence, the wider his grin became too. He seemed to be enjoying this situation far too much. 

" _Please,_ " the man on the floor choked out weakly breaking you right out of your thoughts. He had tears in his eyes as he looked at you, but when you looked at him all you could see was that animal from before. You had no doubt in your mind that he would have killed you if he'd had the chance and he probably still would in fact. He only begged because he wanted to save his skin. 

What kind of person _was_ he? You hadn't done anything to provoke him and had only been ushered into the room against your will. Yet on sight he was ready to murder you…

The Joker walked away to the table near by with a wistful sigh and pulled off the sheet to reveal yet another layer to this nightmare. Spread out along the table were quite a few tools for putting the beastly man down for good. Feeling nervous and a little sick, you bit down on your lip and shut your eyes to block out the image and the thought of what he wanted you to do. Even knowing that the man was a monster didn’t help make the situation any easier—it should have, but it didn’t. 

Gloved hands cupped your face suddenly as the Joker’s thumb brushed away tears you hadn't realized you were shedding. You didn't even flinch at his touch, distracted as you were by trying to repress the images in your head. Even with your eyes closed you could still see the tools on the table—you could see him using them too. 

"Now, now," He cooed and his voice was almost soothing. It probably would have been in this situation if he wasn't the one forcing this terribleness on you. "you won't have to be the one to kill him. I won't even make you watch." You opened your eyes and looked up at him. His words seemed almost too good to be true.

And they were.

"Just make your choice and we can go." What little hope you had for walking away without having to damn the man to a bloody death vanished on the spot. "You've seen what kind of person he is."

"Please!!" The guttural cry shot through you like a bullet and you couldn't take hearing him anymore. You covered your ears as he begged in that choked, broken voice that was so different from his feral tone. This man was two-faced, dangerous, and likely just as monstrous as his captor. 

The Joker let out a horrible sound of impatience and anger that made you suddenly very afraid, but he wasn't looking at you anymore. He dropped his hold on you and strode over to his prisoner so swift and menacing that he looked like death himself as he fell upon the man. He lifted him more easily than his lithe form would have otherwise given him credit for. 

"You really can't take a hint!" The Joker hissed as he held the man pinned to the wall by a fierce grip on his throat. "Can't you see that she's heard enough out of you? Huh!?" It was obvious that the man could neither answer nor breathe. You wondered if, in his moment of anger, the Joker might just strangle the guy to death.

Part of you actually hoped that he would. If he was the one that killed the man then you would play no real part in his demise. Those feral eyes from before—the way he'd screamed how he wanted to kill you—were enough to keep you from feeling too guilty about this terrible wish. You wanted to have nothing at all to do with this man's death, for it seemed very certain that he would indeed die. 

The Joker wanted him dead and he was a man who got what he wanted, one way or another. You remained pressed against the far wall, watching in wide-eyed fear as he choked the life out of this man. 

But he did not kill him. 

He released his hold as the man lost consciousness. You could see him still breathing from where you stood. Only now he would no longer be able to plead for his life or distract the Joker from making you decide just how he would be dying. 

The Joker straighted up very slowly with his eyes on you all the while. His lips curved into that sinister smile that made you want to run from that room just as fast as you possibly could. Your legs wouldn’t move though as he started coming towards you again. The way he moved made him look like some great beast stalking towards its prey. 

He looked like he was going to devour you. 

Suddenly he stopped n his tracks, glancing to the door as if he heard something that you did not. This was startling enough that you foolishly took your eyes off him. You followed his gaze and saw that the door was ajar, but you were sure it had been closed before.

Then all at once the lights went out, plunging the room into total darkness. 

It was silent at first, as if the lack of lights had chased away all the noise. However, that did not last nearly as long as the darkness. Soon you could hear movement, though you couldn't see a thing to help identify who it was or where it was coming from. Terror gripped your heart as you imagined it being the madman, somehow free of his chains and just as thirsty for your blood as before the Joker intervened. It was very unnerving that he was actually more frightening to you than the Joker himself, but at least the Joker hadn't tried to attack you yet. He seemed far more interested in getting under your skin. 

You wanted to make a break for the door, but the fear gripped too tightly. There was no way of knowing what waited in the dark and what you might run into if you tried to escape. 

Someone took you by the arm suddenly and the shock of this nearly made your heart stop. They tugged you to the left towards where you thought the door might be and this calmed your nerves enough to follow. Even if it turned out to be the Joker again, it still seemed a better option than standing there in the dark hoping not to die. He was still far less frightening to you right then than the chained beast he planned to kill. 

The light of the hallway was nearly blinding after being in the dark, but not so much that you couldn’t tell who it was leading you to safety. It seemed the Batman had come out victorious after all and was finally able to get you away from the mad clown. The relief of seeing him could have knocked your knees clean out if not for the fact you could almost feel the Joker at your back. 

The two of you burst into the large room where the cage still stood, cut open on one side and the bodies of Joker’s minions were scattered around unconscious and out of the running. Finally it seemed like things were taking a turn for the better as he rushed you across the nearly vacant room. 

“Are we leaving?” You asked frantically, sending a nervous glance over your shoulder to see if the Joker was there.

He wasn’t.

“Soon.” Batman’s deep, ever calm voice was soothing. “We need to go down a few floors first though.” 

It was the closest he’d come to explaining what purpose had brought you there, but sadly you never got to ask why he needed to go deeper into this place. You never got to because not even halfway across the room the walls and ground inexplicably began to shake. A crack split the middle of the floor bringing you both to a sudden halt. 

“Get back!” His urgent cry was just a little too late. 

The floor gave way beneath your feet, opening up like the jaws of a monster trying to swallow you whole. You caught the first thing your hands came in contact with as the floor gave way and you both slid towards the darkness below. It turned out to be little more than a bundle of cords. Better than nothing, but hardly something you wanted your life hanging by. 

Batman caught hold of a crack in the stone further down, but he was forced to let go when someone above fired off two shots that landed within inches of his hands. He vanished into the waiting darkness and after his fall there came a terrible, awful roar of something very large and very angry. 

Whatever was down there wasn't too happy about the intrusion and you really did not want to find out what it was.

The cords in your hands slacked and you tightened your grip in a rush of terror, trying to find some purchase on with your feet, but they met only air. You were suspended above a great darkness with some monster waiting below and whatever it was that these cords were connected to or wrapped around weren't about to support your weight for long. 

"Well, well," The Jokers voice drew your attention upward to see him standing at the edge of the floor. He crouched down looking more than a little amused at your predicament. "Seems once again the damsel is in distress. There is no bat to save you this time, princess—oh, no, no, no."

Damn him to hell for taking such pleasure in all of this. You wanted to scream at him for mocking your impending demise and lash out at him for having been the one to put you in this position in the first place. Yet somehow you managed to bit back those venomous words, though only by the skin of your teeth did you manage. It was so infuriating to see that mocking grin as you hung onto your life with a failing grip and slacking cord. Part of you wanted to tell him to go screw himself, but the other part of you was absolutely terrified of falling to your death—or worse. That side made a compelling argument about pleading for your life, but you really didn't trust yourself to speak. Both out of pride and because you weren't sure you wouldn't end up biting his head off if you opened your mouth. 

The cords slacked further, dropping you down another few, terrifying inches and the Joker made his move. You looked at his outstretched hand in disbelief and trepidation. It didn't make sense that he was offering to save you—what good were you to him? Was he just having fun with you? Were you supposed to be useful somehow? It was pretty doubtful that he had any good intentions, unless he actually had it in him to like someone enough to spare their life.

Which was not a thought that had much hope to it—he was a monster through and through. Still, he was offering to save you. Though it was a serious blow to your pride to even consider taking his help.

He was offering his hand down to you with that sarcastically mocking smile, as if to expound upon the lack of choices you had. It was either his hand or quite possibly a painful death and you ended up choosing what you hoped would be the lesser of two evils— _him_.

He pulled you up with that startling, unexpected brute strength and you fell into his arms as the creature below let out another horrifying roar. The sound had you clinging to the Joker's purple jacket for fear of ending up down there with that _thing_. Whatever it was waiting below, you certainly never wanted to run afoul of it. The Joker kept a tight hold on you as he stepped back from the gaping hole in the floor and guided you back into the safety of the hall—however _safe_ that might actually be considered.

"Where are we going?" You asked meekly and against the wishes of the part of your brain that told you to be quiet and subservient. He’d opted to save you, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t just up and decide to toss you in the pit anyway. 

"Don't want to miss the show." He cackled in response and it made your heart clench.

That certainly did not bode well for Batman.


	4. Meeting the Monster

The roar had become a much more frequent companion as Joker led the descent. In the darkness of the hallway it seemed somehow more terrifying than before. By sound alone the monster was swiftly turning you into a nervous wreck and Joker was taking you to _see_ it! 

Batman was at that very moment _fighting_ it. 

You didn’t even realize that you were moving closer to the Joker until he chuckled and you could feel it reverberating against your side. His arm slipped from your shoulders to your hips, yanking you up against his chest roughly enough to make you stagger. 

“Now you’ll want to be careful not to draw too much attention in here.” He murmured in your ear, giving you a whole set of shivers that had no business showing up just then—the kind that were there for all the wrong reasons. “A pretty thing like you would be far more tempting than the bat.” 

Another roar punctuated his warning and sent a jolt of fear through your veins, hazing over the part of your brain that rationalized and bringing your baser instincts to the forefront. The urge to run was so strong you almost forgot that it was impossible. Joker was keeping a tight grip on you and then there were his men following close behind that would present a problem while trying to flee; but the fear had its claws in so deep that you could hardly remember any of this. Your mind wasn’t up for thinking things through at this point—all it could do was scream for you to run. 

Still though you kept moving forward. Even with the haze of terror clouding your judgment you walked into the beast’s lair with Joker and his men. Mainly because you had no choice in the matter, but there was also that sick feeling of curiosity that even fear couldn’t banish.

The monster’s lair was very much like a cave. It was massive, dark, and damp. Every step echoed in the absence of the beast’s roar. 

Several things became quickly apparent as you took in the scene. The first was that you were still up above the actual room on a partially destroyed balcony. Secondly, what caused the floor above to literally fall out from under you was a pillar that had been cracked in half and was laying shattered in the large beam of light coming from the hole in the ceiling. Finally, and most important of all, Batman was still alive.

He was in the middle of the room under the light and thankfully he did not look any worse for the wear. He looked up towards you and that acknowledgment coupled with his cool demeanor helped to abate the panic. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to you. That knowledge almost gave you peace of mind—it probably would have too if not for what joined the Bat under the spotlight. 

Out of the darkness bounded a monstrous creature. It had the form of a man but was far larger and a deep scaly green. Almost as shocking as his wild and massive appearance was the fact that you recognized him. 

You’d seen the headlines when they had captured him and shipped him off to Arkham. 

He called himself Killer Croc. 

Joker cackled as Batman struggled against this powerful foe. It was blatantly obvious from the moment Croc attacked that Batman was doing all he could just to keep from being killed by this creature. 

“Do you like what I’ve done with him, Bats?” Croc swung wildly and just missed hitting his target, crushing the wall instead and creating a massive hole in it. “He’s stronger, faster, angrier,” you held your breath as Batman charged forward towards the monster. “There’s just one _tiny_ drawback.”

Croc swung out so fast you could hardly see it and sent the Batman flying into the darkness. 

“Now there is no stopping him!” Joker’s laughter echoed so loudly that it sounded like a chorus of madness.

There was just no way for him to take on something like that alone. Yet what could you do? You weren’t a hero, you were just some hacker that helped one out from time to time. Not to mention the fact that you were currently in the very strong grip of a super villain. You were absolutely useless and it made you feel sick to your stomach. 

Batman was fighting a true blue monster and one that Joker had apparently done something to just to make him even more unstoppable. He was trying to save you and all you could do was stand there and watch him struggle against something that would rip a normal man in to shreds. 

You flinched as Croc’s razor sharp teeth came within inches of Batman’s throat. Joker patted your side with a snicker almost as though to comfort you, though all it did was fill you with the sudden urge to punch the clown in the throat. 

Fear and anger pumped through your veins in a dizzying mix that left you confused and anxious. You were furious about what Joker was doing, but terrified of getting in his way. Petrified of something happening to Batman and angry at yourself for not having the courage or the strength to do something to help. 

What could you do though? 

Croc slammed Batman into a wall with an almighty roar that shook the room from ceiling to floor. The wall cracked and crumbled as Batman went straight through it. 

_What could you do?_

The howling laughter of Joker’s cronies drew your attention and your eyes fell on something that glistened in the light. Your heart raced faster than ever as you stared at the gun on the lackey’s hip with a sort of wary fascination. You knew how to use a gun, but you also knew just how life threatening taking that gun would be. 

Even if you managed to tug it off of the laughing man’s hip and fire it before someone could stop you, what then? Would the Joker just allow you to escape? Would you even be able to get out of his grasp? He wasn’t exactly the type to fear getting shot or even killed. The Joker didn’t know the meaning of fear anymore than he knew the meaning of self-sacrifice.

Yet, as Croc loomed closer to where Batman had fallen, you found that you couldn’t get the idea out of your head. You knew without a doubt that Batman would sacrifice himself for you and without nearly as much second guessing. 

What kind of person were you if you wouldn’t do the same?

You ripped the gun off of the lackey with your free hand and fired it off into the darkness as he turned. It was beyond you to shoot someone point blank, but the gun served its purpose regardless of what it hit. 

Croc turned his wide, wild eyes from the hole in the wall to where you stood with the Joker and his men. He stood there for a moment as the shots continued to echo through the cavernous room. It made your blood run cold when you realized that he was looking directly at you and even more so when you saw him lick his lips. 

Before anyone could even take the gun from you Croc was moving. He rushed towards the center of the room where the pillar had cracked and fallen over and he lifted the massive concrete structure as if it weighed nothing at all. 

Your heart caught in your throat as you realized what he was planning to do only seconds before he actually did it. His massive muscles rippled and stretched as he lifted the pillar and threw it like a javelin at the balcony. 

The cronies let out a yell and you stared at your impending death wondering if it would be the pillar, the fall, or the monster that actually ended your life. You started falling though before it ever landed. Joker’s hand tightened around your arm to the point your fingers tingled as he threw not only you, but himself into the hall. 

The earsplitting explosion of the pillar crashing into the balcony had your ears ringing and the force of your landing left you breathless. Your head was pounding almost in perfect sync with your racing heart and something heavy was splayed across you. At first you thought that part of the hall had collapsed on top of you, but when you were able to open your eyes you found that it was much worse. 

It was the Joker who had landed on top of you and the mixed reaction this caused only made your head spin even worse. 

You chanced a quick glance around and realized that it was only the two of you laying there in the hall. None of his men had made it out. Frankly you weren’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Especially since you had gone and dropped the gun apparently. 

Joker started moving before you could decide if you should start struggling and suddenly his weight was lifting, though he did not stand up. Instead he loomed over you on all fours with a grin that looked downright terrifying in the low light. You couldn’t tell if he was genuinely amused or seconds from choking the life out of you.

“Well,” he cackled as he stared you down. “You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?”


	5. Dangers in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [* Mood Music *]  
>  _Acid Rain : Avenged Sevenfold_

Panic seemed too weak a description for what it was you were feeling just then. The Joker’s men were almost certainly dead because of what you’d done and you were alone with him after pulling such a stunt. To your surprise he hadn’t strangled the life from you, or even lashed out for what you’d done. Rather, he had loomed over you long enough to make you feel anxious and, to your shame, flustered. Then he just stood up, pulled you up, and started off to some other destination like nothing had even happened.

The man was going to drive you insane at this rate. 

He hummed a jaunty little tune that was so out of place for the situation and the darkened hallway that you actually felt laughter trying to bubble up from your chest. 

_Madness is quite catching._

You forced down the humor and mentally shook yourself for such foolishness. Physically shaking was out of the question as you were forced up quite tightly to the mad clown’s side. Apparently the fact that you’d gotten his men killed hadn’t endeared you to him any less. He actually seemed to like you even more, though you weren’t sure just why that surprised you. The Joker was very fond of chaos and mayhem—doubly so if it gave him a laugh. So the fact that you’d caused your fair share of it by turning Killer Croc’s attention on the group was likely something he delighted in.

He certainly seemed to be in a good mood, especially for someone who just lost three of his men. Not that you imagined he cared too much about the death of his followers in any situation. They were disposable pawns for whatever insidious machinations were rolling around in that head of his. 

As the two of you descended deeper into the darkness, you wondered what had become of Batman. Had he even survived being flung through the wall? If he had, was your distraction enough to get him out of Croc’s reach? You hoped that perhaps your sacrifice had been enough to spare him, especially since you had yet to discover what the Joker planned to do about it. It seemed too much to hope that he wouldn’t find _some_ way to punish you for your transgressions. 

Deeper and deeper you journeyed through the dark with a madman holding you tight. Thankfully the roars had faded and you wondered if perhaps you had gone too deep for them too reach. A hopeful thought of Croc having been vanquished flared briefly, but something far less pleasant took its place.

_What if he’d escaped instead?_

What if at that very moment he was creeping through the shadows hunting you? He certainly had reacted to the sight of you with gusto. Just as the Joker had warned. 

_’A pretty little thing like you would be far more tempting than the Bat.’_

It wasn’t too much of a leap to imagine that he would come looking for you. 

The terrible notion made you shiver from head to toe and had you pressing yourself closer to the Joker. When it came to the lesser of evils, he was certainly your preference compared to Killer Croc. You’d take the Joker without a second thought over the massive, hulking monster with those sharp teeth and wild eyes. At least the Joker hadn’t tried to hurt you yet. 

_At least he didn’t look like he wanted to **eat** you._

You inhaled sharply and glanced back when you heard something clatter to the floor. The Joker paused briefly to look back at the piece of concrete that had fallen off the crumbling old wall. His brows were raised when you looked at him, but you said nothing and quickly looked away. 

It seemed silly that you were so edgy over your surroundings when you were still in the grip of a monster, but you couldn’t help just how much more terrifying Killer Croc was to you. Joker at least was human. Strange, insane, and dangerous; but human. That didn’t mean he was a vast improvement, yet all the ways he could kill you still seemed less horrifying than having Croc ripping off your flesh with his teeth. 

A light at the end of the long, dark hallway spared you from the brunt of the image forming in your head. The one that involved all those teeth and a close proximity with your skin. 

The Joker led you into a wide room that reminded you of a basement hacker’s den you’d seen in a movie once. It had a lot of screens on the walls, several computer stations, and a tall structure that was veiled by a large sheet. 

“What do you think?” Joker asked offhandedly as you looked around. He even released his hold on you so that you could look around. The thought of bolting didn’t even last three seconds. Going back down that dark hallway alone, with the possibility of running into Croc scared the hell out of you even as a wayward thought. 

Movement on one of the screens caught your eye and you wandered over for a closer look. What you saw was a room with cages that weren’t entirely unlike something you might find down at MCU. In those cages were people, but they seemed to have all lost their minds. 

“I think your prisoners are trying to kill each other.” You stated with far more moxie than you actually felt. At least you sounded like someone who wasn’t afraid to die. 

Joker took you by surprise when he leaned in over your shoulder for a look. 

“Hm,” he was smirking as he looked them over. There was only a person each in the cages and about two feet of space between each little prison. This seemed to be the only thing keeping the prisoners from tearing each other apart, though not for lack of trying. They were reaching through the bars like vicious, hungry beasts. You could swear a couple of them were foaming at the mouth like rabid dogs. “You might just be right about that.”

His tone was sarcastic enough that the urge to punch him resurfaced briefly. Thankfully your fear of dying was stronger than your irritation with the clown. 

“I’d wager a guess that this isn’t exactly shocking to you.” You were aware that _your_ tone was borderline sarcastic, but that only seemed to amuse him. 

“And why do you think that is?” His question surprised you, though the answer to it seemed to roll off your tongue before you had a chance to really think it over.

“Because you did something to them.” 

He chortled and spun you in his arms. “Bingo, baby!” He started backing you up away from the monitors—away from the light. “Would you like to know what that _something_ is?” 

Your voice caught in your throat, hindered by his closeness and the danger in his question. Even without a response, you knew he was going to show you what he’d done. He was far too thrilled with his evil schemes not to share them.

The truly terrifying part of that realization though was just _how_ he could go about that. It wouldn’t be unthinkable for him to do to you exactly what he’d done to the others. In fact you had a terrible feeling that was exactly what he’d been keeping you alive for. There was no way you could fight him or get away either. Even if you did manage to get out of his arms and run for it, what then? You ran the risk of running head on into Killer Croc. What was worse in the long run? Becoming a crazed beast in humanoid form? Or being _eaten_ by one? 

“Not really.” You finally replied when it became apparent that he was waiting for your response. 

He held you fast even after he’d stopped moving. You realized suddenly that you were almost pressed right up against whatever it was the sheet had been thrown over. 

Joker’s grin was quite a sight with what little light touched it. “Don’t be such a killjoy, sweetheart~ I’ve just been _dying_ to show it to you.” 

His tone made you shiver and worse yet his closeness coupled with his heated breath across your throat made those tremors stronger for a terrible reason. You tried not to focus on it and thankfully the fear he was instilling in you made that easier. 

He turned you just a little with his body as he reached up and yanked away the sheet. His drum roll for the big reveal was the thrumming of your heart. You watched the sheet slide down almost as though it were taking its time deliberately, though you were sure it was just the anxiety and terror messing with your head. 

“Ta da~” he proclaimed with a flare as he brought you right up against a glass chamber full of thick, purple gas. 

You didn’t even have to _ask_ to know that whatever was in there was deadly. This was the Joker after all. However, whatever was in there quickly became the least of your worries as you spied the nearby console. It really didn’t take but a few seconds to put two and two together and figure out just what it was you were looking at. 

A time bomb.


	6. Treacherous Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think it says something about me that Joker is the easiest man for me to work with. Not sure that something is good though. 
> 
> Also, the final proofreading for this done while under the effects of Vicodin. No pain, but a very foggy brain. >.>
> 
>  
> 
> _Acid Rain : Avenged Sevenfold_  
>  My Name (Wearing me Out) : Shinedown

The Joker laughed as you stood there rigid with shock. It was a _bomb_. The crazy bastard had rigged the place with a _bomb_ and it was connected to the tank full of gas. You didn’t even want to _know_ what the gas did; the explosives hooked to it were terrifying enough. 

“You’re going to blow us up?” To your dismay your tone came out every bit as terrified as you felt. 

Joker’s hold on you tightened as he cackled. “Oh, no no no no~” he snickered wickedly. “You and I will be long gone from here by the time this thing goes off.”

Your stomach leapt with surprise and even relief at his remark. The fact that he was still intending to keep you alive though was confusing, but you weren’t about to question it lest he change his mind. You much preferred to just enjoy the fact that you were going to keep breathing for a little while longer. 

“Everyone else though,” his voice trailed off and your mind finished his statement for him.

_Is going to die in a fiery explosion._

Your eyes shot to the panel beneath the screen showing the count down. A smaller and much braver part of your mind pondered your chances of hacking the system to shut it down. Though you had no idea what kind of code the thing was running or just how you could even get at the thing. It wasn’t like you could just ask him to let you mess around with his bomb and it really didn’t seem like he was about to let you out of his sight. 

What you needed was a diversion. Assuming of course that what little bravery you felt could even hold up under the torrent of fear and confusion. There was less than an hour on the count down and you didn’t like the fact that you were so close to something that was going to explode in the not-so-distant future. 

You had the urge to ask the Joker if the two of you shouldn’t start booking it, but you clamped down on it before the question could escape. A surge of self-loathing colored your thoughts as you realized your instincts compelled you to run off with the villain just to save your own skin. What about Batman? What about the prisoner’s Joker had locked up in the building? Assuming there was any way that they could even be saved from whatever it was Joker had done to them. 

Regardless though, there were people in that place that wouldn’t be able to get out and you were a hacker who quite possibly could prevent the whole damn place from becoming a massive fireball. That was going to require some courage and unsupervised time away from Joker however and you weren’t sure just how to go about getting either of those things. 

You looked up to find that Joker was watching you with a sort of shrewdness that made your stomach flip. For a moment it felt like he _knew_ what you were thinking. That he could see right into the deep recesses of your mind or deeper still into the very core of your being. It was a very uncomfortable thought and you felt immensely vulnerable under such a look. 

Yet before you could succumb to the anxiety his lips tilted into a mocking grin and released you. He headed back for the monitors, perhaps to enjoy the fruits of his madness before they were blown to pieces. It was only with the absence of his gaze that you were able to breathe properly again and you realized with a jolt that your distraction may have come at last. Though quite frankly you were petrified of even getting too close to the keyboard, lest he catch you and decide that perhaps death by explosion was the way to go with you. 

Obviously this was the chance you had been looking for. However, it was much easier to contemplate the idea of playing the hero and much harder to actually go through with it. The Joker was still in the room, he was still in sight. While he wasn’t paying you much mind as he cackled over the prisoners trying to kill each other, he could still glance back and see you trying to spoil his fun. 

That or he could have been waiting for you to try something. His timing was just a little too convenient, especially after that _look_ he’d given you. 

You inched a little to the side while keeping your eyes on him. He didn’t turn, he didn’t say anything, and yet that still didn’t make you feel any braver. 

It wasn’t like you really had a choice in the matter though. How would you ever be able to live with yourself if you just stood there and did nothing? You weren’t exactly feeling all that worried about the people that were trying to _murder_ one another, but Batman was still there. What if he blew up with the building? Who would keep all of the monsters in Gotham from spreading their mayhem and madness down the eastern seaboard? He was the only one who could handle them, who could _frighten_ them. Gotham needed Batman more than anything. 

When the Joker made no move to turn around, you quickly spun and got to work on the console. To your dismay it was not, in fact, written in any of the codes you were familiar with. It looked like a very old system and it was _weird_ to say the least. Usually you could at least pick up on the gist of a programming language by skimming it, but there seemed to be no order to this one. No rhyme or reason for how it worked or what it did. Certainly it fit the Joker’s mindset at least, but your mind didn’t work the same way his did. 

You couldn’t just give up though. People’s lives depended on your ability to hack the system and you’d hate to disappoint. 

So you carefully started changing things. Little things that didn’t seem like they would cause a massive melt down that might make the bomb go off sooner rather than later. A setting here or there that made the lights dim just a tad or seemed to do nothing at all. It gave you _some_ insight on how the code worked, but it really wasn’t all that informative. 

You hated poking around like this without anything to go on. There really was no way to be certain that you actually _wouldn’t_ cause the whole damn thing to blow up in your face. Even if a line of code seemed harmless, it very well could have been tied to something that wasn’t. 

Thankfully your messing around did not cause a massive explosion, but when you changed one of the lines that seemed useless something terrible did end up happening. 

It activated the sprinkler system. You didn’t even have a chance to process your shock and move away from the console before the repercussions of this came down on you. 

Suddenly you were spun around and pressed tightly between the container of gas and the Joker’s body with a knife against your throat. He didn’t look mad though, but rather amused and even intrigued. The heavy downpour from the sprinklers was quickly washing off his makeup and forcing his hair to hang down around his face. 

The jolt you felt was fear, not heat. That’s what you told yourself. He wasn’t handsome or desirable—he was terrifying and insane.

“Now, we can’t have you messing with that.” His cackle seemed deeper, darker than usual and it did not improve your state of mind. It was no help at all to think that he might be enjoying the position. “You see, that bomb is going to send the gas straight into Gotham.” He tapped the container and leaned forward until he was almost brushing against your nose. “I’m sure you can imagine what will happen when the _fine people of Gotham_ turn into **that**!” His finger jabbed towards the screens where the people were still trying to kill each other through the bars of their cages.

Suddenly you felt very ill. The explosion was one thing, but a cloud of _crazy gas_ descending on the city? That was the very definition of madness.

“Doesn’t that just sound like _so much fun_!?” He burst into hysterics and it actually infuriated you to hear him laughing about turning Gotham into a wasteland of madness and murder.

“Go fuck yourself!” You hissed out before reason could still your tongue. 

He cackled with a dark sort of glee. “ _That **mouth**_!” 

Suddenly both his hands were on you again and he was leaning closer. You tried to shy back, but there was nowhere you could move to. The wall behind you wasn’t about to give way just because you needed an escape and he didn’t seem like he was planning on letting you go. What as he planning though? To kill you? To torment you? To laugh in your face before leaving you to die in the explosion?

Maybe he’d even take you back upstairs and give you to Killer Croc. 

He took you by surprise and not in any of the ways you were thinking. Though perhaps the most surprising of all was how you _reacted_ to having his mouth cover yours. You couldn’t fight the way your body heated the moment his lips touched yours anymore than you could get him away from you. He didn’t give you the option of resisting him. He took what he wanted and you told yourself that you didn’t enjoy the feel of him, the _taste_ of him. You almost made yourself believe that you didn’t fight back because he would hurt you. Not because you wanted it. 

There was even a moment where you convinced yourself that it was relief that made you kiss back, that made you feel so weak in the knees. Relief that he wasn’t killing you, that he wasn’t _angry_. Not some sick thrill that he apparently wanted you for something more than torture and pain. 

The knife fell away from your throat as he slipped a gloved hand through your hair, grabbing a fist full of it to tilt your head back. It didn’t hurt very much at all and you hated that you actually enjoyed it. You hated that your body reacted with desire to the way his tongue mapped your mouth, the way his other hand slipped down to your hip to pull you fully against him. More than that you hated just how much you enjoyed the feel of him. How you delighted at his strength and how good it felt to be in his arms. 

_It was madness_.

He looked so damn pleased, so _thrilled_ when he pulled back just a little. You couldn’t make yourself believe that it was the cold water clinging to your skin that made you shiver. Not with the heat coming off of him. Not with the way your stomach leapt as he started to lean in again. 

Only he didn’t kiss you again. He paused just before he reached your lips and back over his shoulders with a dark look that made you nervous. The grin that spread across his face did little to assuage that. However seeing just who he was looking at did make you feel a little safer, even if he couldn’t save you from what these foolish and dangerous feelings you were developing towards the Joker. 

At least you knew that Batman was still alive. Even if you realized with a sudden surge of horror and guilt that he had no doubt noticed exactly how you had been responding to the Joker’s advances.

“Sorry sugar,” Joker smirked as he held the Batman’s gaze. It felt _mocking_ the way he smiled at the Dark Knight. As if to say ‘look what I’ve done to her’, ‘look how much she wants me’. “We’ll have to finish this later.” 

You felt so ashamed that you almost didn’t realize when he let you go. Or that you had a much better distraction to allow you to try and defuse the bomb. Really, all you wanted to do was curl up and die at having been caught making out with the mad clown like some sort of sick Joker groupie.

What was _wrong_ with you?


	7. Dangerous Distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so damn long. D: It's been sitting in my revise to post folder for ages, but I kept having trouble fixing a couple of parts I didn't much like. Plus the whole not having a computer anymore issue was part of my problem. It's not easy going from laptop to tablet full time for writing and I had to do a lot of work to get my files set up in a place that I could keep them synced and access them on here. Scrivener isn't out on ipad yet, so I had to switch all my hundreds of files to another app/file sync (since my usual cloud storage doesn't sync right with my writing app). Soooo it's been kinda detrimental to my writing. lol
> 
> Hopefully this chapter is even just slightly worth the wait. Enjoy!

It really shouldn’t have surprised you that the Joker had more lackeys hanging around. There seemed to be no end to the demented sort of criminals that flocked to a monster like him. However, it still blindsided you when a group of them rushed into the room to stop Batman from getting at their boss. 

For one terrible moment you thought about the fact that they might have been watching you with the Joker and it actually horrified you. Not quite as much as Batman having seen it, but it was still humiliating none-the-less. The fact that you’d reacted that way at all should have been the scary thing, but instead it was having had anyone witness it. 

You had to shove that notion aside just like all of the other conflicting and nauseating thoughts in your head. Batman was keeping the bad guys at bay and that meant you had your golden opportunity of fiddling with the system to try and stop Gotham from being covered in Joker’s crazy gas. That didn’t mean you had an easy time concentrating though. Between the heat pumping through your veins courtesy of Joker, the fear of being attacked by one of his lackeys or even him, and the nerve-wrecking anxiety of having a ticking time bomb in front of you: it was a wonder that you were actually able to keep from having a nervous breakdown. You were probably on the verge of it though with all the stress, fear, anxiety, guilt, lust, and humiliation vying for control. 

At least it seemed that Joker and his men had more important things to worry about. Batman took priority over a meek little hacker and you were supremely grateful for that. It was hard enough to focus on the crazy programming without having to worry about getting a knife in the back. 

Another thing to be grateful for was that the console for the bomb seemed to be water proof. Even with the sprinklers still making it rain cats and dogs, nothing so much as sparked at you. You would have tried to turn off the waterworks, but frankly you were afraid to mess with that particular line of code again. It still baffled you just how that change had led to the sprinklers coming on in the first place. 

You scanned chunks of nonsensical code trying to find some reason or logic to it while blocking out the sounds of violence and Joker’s cackling laughter. It was hard to ignore though and every now and then you’d glance back at the fray. Batman was holding his own, but these particular cronies were pretty big. Not _Killer Croc_ big, but sizable enough that it was taking some effort to put them down. 

You flinched to the side when a chair came sailing by, breaking apart against the wall not five feet from where you stood. 

Something else to have to worry about apparently: getting nailed by flying furniture. As if you weren’t having enough trouble focusing on keeping the place from exploding. 

You sent another look back at the group and found with a jolt of horror that your problems were even worse than you'd thought. Which was saying something as this whole affair was one big nightmare, after all. It seemed that one of the Joker’s men _did_ think you took priority over Batman and he was rushing at you with a knife. 

You saw the glint of the blade flash in the low light as he darted straight at you. Between the creepy clown mask and his wild, gleaming eyes it was hard to make yourself move. You were frozen at the sight of him even as your mind screamed at you to run. 

A gunshot pierced though the sounds of violence from the fight and the screaming in your head. You didn’t even realize what had happened at first. Not until you saw the man fall to his knees with a gaping, bloody hole in his neck. He reached out for you with a gurgle and slumped over dead just a few feet away. Close enough that the pool of blood was already touching your shoes.

You looked over to see the Joker holding the smoking gun. “Can’t you see the lady is trying to work, _you moron_?”

Frankly you couldn’t breathe for the shock of it having been _him_ that saved you from one of his own men. Did he actually _want_ you to disarm the bomb? Or was he expecting you to fail? Did _anything_ about him make sense?

He went back to watching Batman fight off his overgrown minions without even sparing you a glance. Yet you couldn’t turn away that easily. You watched him as he stood there overseeing the fight and something compelled you to him like a moth is compelled to touch the flames. It took a lot of will power to stay right where you were and even more to turn back to the computer. You just couldn’t wrap your head around his reasons for keeping you alive anymore than you could understand why it was he had kissed you.

That he’d killed his own lackey to save your life frankly made you want to kiss him again. So much so that you couldn’t seem to concentrate properly on the task of shutting down his bomb. You became all thumbs when it came to typing and far too distracted to take in much of what you saw on the screen. Maybe that was his intention all along. To wind you up and make you useless when it came to stopping him. 

It wasn’t exactly out of his ballpark to be that cruel. 

A massive roar had you turning frantically and there in the doorway across the room was your worst nightmare returned. Something far worse than what the Joker had done to you. Something that made you want to run screaming from the room far more than the sight of the knife had.

Killer Croc was back.

As if things weren’t already dire enough. 

He jumped into the fray with Batman and the Joker’s men. If they had any notion that his appearance would help them against the bat, then they were far off base. Croc didn’t seem to care just who or what his fists made contact with. He tore into anyone and everyone he could get his massive hands on. Even the burliest of Joker’s men were no much for the raw strength and sheer animalistic instincts of this monster. 

_The monster that found you more tempting than all the others._

You swallowed hard and shrank back against the console. The thought that he might turn his gaze to you was terrifying, but you didn’t have anywhere you could hide. He would be able to find you anywhere in that room. Not to mention the fact that you kind of _needed_ to stay where you were to disarm the bomb. Which of course was going to be much harder to focus on with him in the room. 

Even when you tried to turn back to work on the system, you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off of him. He was tearing through the Joker’s men in a horrifying fashion that you couldn’t look away from. His strength was monstrous and petrifying. You couldn't help but imagine just what he'd be able to do to you if he ever got the chance.

As if he could sense your stare he turned his head and looked right at you. Running seemed like such a good idea right about then, but to where? The only way out of the room was on the other side of him. 

One of the Joker’s men ran at Croc with his blade while he was distracted and it shattered against his skin. Croc swatted the guy aside like a fly. He didn’t even bother to look away from you. Out of the corner of your eye you thought you could see Batman trying to get at him before he could lunge at you, but he didn’t make it in time.

Croc came at you with a speed that went beyond inhuman. It was unthinkable for someone so big to be so damn fast. He was almost too fast to see and he seemed to blur at little at the edges. 

There was no way you _could_ run from him. You couldn’t even get out of his way. All you could do was stand there in a state of paralyzed fear as he quickly covered the distance between you. It took him no time at all to go from across the room to almost within arms reach of grabbing you. 

Out of nowhere the The Joker threw something at him and Croc fell to his knees with a terrible howl. It looked like his skin had become electrified. 

“Ah, ah, ah Crocky~” the Joker teased as he skipped in between you and the beast. “I’m not sharing this one.” 

When Killer Croc looked up your heart nearly gave out. He looked furious and deranged. So much so that you were actually afraid not only for yourself but for the Joker. Somehow you actually had the capacity to fear for the man who caused this situation. It seemed insane, regardless of the fact that he kept saving your life for whatever reason. 

You hadn’t been aware that you’d made a sound until the Joker reacted to it. He glanced back at you curiously and you paled as Croc started to make a grab for him.

“Look out!” You screamed, for all the good it would do. He was too close for Croc _not_ to hit him. 

It shouldn’t have frightened you the way it did. Sure, he’d protected you, but it was his fault you were in danger to begin with. He was a dangerous monster who delighted in chaos and pain. You shouldn’t have feared for his life. You should have been using the distraction as a way to escape. Yet you made no move from that spot and watched in horror as Croc reached that destructive, massive hand out for the Joker. 

It seemed much slower than it should have been. The moment should have lasted seconds with Croc’s blinding speed, but that agonizing fear seemed to draw it out indefinitely. You could see the hand inching downward through the air towards Joker and yet he neither moved nor turned away from you.

He didn’t seem worried. He didn’t seem to care. 

Batman tackled Croc suddenly and the monster’s arm missed Joker by _inches_. It felt like your heart only started beating again when you realized Joker wasn’t about to be crushed. You couldn’t seem to help the heavy flood of relief that had you slumping back against the console. Though you could at least still berate yourself for such a reaction.

Joker looked bemused as he came over to join you. 

“Worrying about little ol’ me with a monster like _**him**_ gunning for you? That’s just so sweet,” he chuckled as he leaned down real close. So close that you could feel his hot breath on your lips. “It gets me right,” he lifted one of your hands up and put it over his chest. Right where his heart would be. “ _Here_.”


	8. Countdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came out shorter than I would have liked, but I couldn't resist that ending. Plus the next chapter is almost done, so I don't plan to leave you hanging too long. ;D

The Joker was watching you disarm his bomb. It sounded crazy even as a passing thought, let alone an observation. He seemed to take some amusement in watching you work, even if that meant impeding _his_ work. It really made no sense at all given that he had stopped you from messing with it once before. Then again, maybe he actually did have some hint of self-preservation in him. It wasn’t as though Killer Croc was just going to let the two of you run out of there and even if you did get by him, there wasn’t a lot of time left to get to safety. 

It would probably take more than the little time you had left just to get out of the building. 

There was also the possibility that the Joker just liked messing with your head. If that was the case, then he was doing a damn good job of it. You couldn't remember every being such a mental mess before. 

What with Croc fighting Batman in the background, a ticking time bomb counting down right in front of you, and the Joker looking over your shoulder as you tried to diffuse it—well, let's just say you weren't working at the top of your game. And Joker's commentary about the fight _really_ wasn't helping. 

"Now _that_ looked painful," he cackled and you were torn between sneaking a peek and smacking him for distracting you yet again. 

"Trying to keep us from blowing up here." Your reply was soft, muttered really, but he seemed to hear you just fine. 

He heaved a heavy sigh as if suddenly burdened by reality. "You really do take your job far too seriously. I mean, would it _kill_ you to have a little fun?" 

You sent him a look. Was he serious or just screwing with you? It was so hard to tell with him. "Yeah, I think this time it might." 

Thankfully your snarky tone didn't manage to get under his skin. He actually seemed to enjoy it when you got mouthy. Which was good, because you had a very tenuous hold on your tongue under pressure. If he kept prodding and goofing off there was a good chance you'd be biting his head off very shortly. It didn't seem too farfetched that he might enjoy _that_ too. 

The man was three parts madness, one part masochist. 

Something beeped nearby when you fiddled with another nonsensical chunk of code. Closer inspection revealed that you had gotten something right finally—the gas was no longer connected to the bomb.

Well, at least if it blew up in your face Gotham wouldn't go insane. That was one bright side to be found in all of this insanity. Plus you were starting to get a better grasp of how things worked in relation to the system's programming. Not that 'a better grasp' constituted understanding. Whoever wrote this code was completely out of their mind. Or _really_ didn't want anyone hacking their systems.

Your shoulders tensed as you hunched forward at a terrible sound from behind. A loud bang and a roar. Joker snickered at whatever was going on and your fingers slipped as he leaned into your ear to speak. "That's a three."

"Huh?" You glanced over to see him smirking and the closeness of him was enough to make your skin burn. 

Worse yet when he leaned a little closer and you could feel his breath on your lips. You nearly fell back against the console as he leaned over you. 

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

You glanced sideways to see him taping against the glass screen above the keyboard. It took a minute to realize what he was pointing at. A line of code you'd just finished that ended in a seven.

He was giving you the answers now. Though he was very detrimentally damaging your ability to think while doing so.

"Right," you murmured and it made you shiver when your lips brushed his as you spoke. 

Honestly, you weren't sure just how you had the strength to turn away from him to make the change. Probably had something to do with the bomb he was damn near caging you against. 

He didn't move away as you got back to work though and you could literally feel him breathing down your neck. Distracting didn't even begin to cover it.

You read the same line of code four times without understanding or remembering any of it. You had to shut your eyes and focus very hard on why you needed to keep your wits.

There was a _bomb_ in front of you and unless you stopped it, it was going to blow up and kill everyone in the building. This was a good motivation for getting to work, but that didn't make it easy to do so.

You opened your eyes again to get back to work, but suddenly the Joker shoved you to the floor. Before you could even look up you heard what sounded like an explosion and for one brief moment you thought it was all over. You'd done something wrong and the bomb had gone off. Or the timer had been wrong about how much time you had left. You thought that at any moment you would feel the heat of the blast against your skin and then nothingness as it took your life.

Yet reality dispelled that fear and you looked up to see something potentially worse.

Killer Croc had smashed the console. You had no way to disarm the bomb. The building was going to go up in a ball of fire in twelve minutes and counting.

“Well, that’s not good.” The Joker’s remark was probably the biggest understatement of the century. "Upsie-daisy~" he sang as he helped you up off the floor, once again totally ignoring the massive monster glaring at his back.

Batman was able to catch Croc's attention though before he could do more than snarl your way, but you didn't see what good it really did. Which way was worse to die, you wondered as Joker led you away. In an explosion or by the hands of a giant monster?

Neither were options you liked. They both seemed terribly painful, even if they had the potential to be quick.

"Is there another way to stop the bomb?" You almost didn't recognize the breathless, defeated tone as your voice.

"Nope~" how the hell could he sound so enthusiastic with an answer like that?!

“Isn’t there any way to _reason_ with him?” You were desperate enough to try anything. Though, really, the behemoth seemed like the last thing you could do something so civilized as ‘reason’ with, but what other options were there? “He’ll die too.”

The Joker looked very amused, especially given the fact that you were all about to be killed because he never thought to build a failsafe for his damn bomb. “Darling, with all the junk I pumped him up with, he wouldn’t know reason if it bit him on the ass.”

"Lovely." Part of you wanted to smack him, but instead you just let him put his arm around your shoulder and contemplated the pros and cons of a goodbye kiss.

Maybe dying would be a little better with his lips on you. At the very least, it was a nice thought.

However, you had a difficult time keeping your eyes off the fight between Batman and Killer Croc long enough to try it. Mostly because the latter scared the crap out of you and kept trying to turn his attention your way. 

Every glance he managed left you colder than the last and moving closer into the Joker's clutches.

During one terrifying moment when Croc turned your way, Batman got his attention back by firing off several darts into the beast's chest and arm. Whatever Batman shot him with though didn't seem to be doing anything. Aside from making him angrier that is. 

He caught Batman across the chest with a crushing blow that sent him flying and when he did not immediately get up you felt the weight of terror bearing down on you. Just as the Crocodile began to bear down upon the Bat.

 _He was going to kill him._

Either because you felt your impending doom looming just past his own, or because your gratitude was able to overpower your terror, you did something incredibly stupid. 

But, what the hell? You were about to die anyway.

You picked up a metal pipe discarded by one of the unconscious thugs and darted into the fray against something more than four times your size. Talk about unfavorable odds, though you didn't let yourself think about that too much. 

Once in range you swung the pipe with everything you had and immediately felt the blowback from hitting Croc's thick skull. It felt like _you'd_ taken the hit instead. 

The pipe slipped from your aching hands and clattered the ground as Croc turned on you, reaching out with that massive hand of his before you could move away. You felt the brush of his fingers at your throat and then Croc buckled. He slumped over at an angle, landing at your side as you stood there in horrified shock.

Whatever Batman had shot him with had finally kicked in. Though if it had taken just a second longer there was a good chance you wouldn't be breathing. It was hard to digest something like that, even though you were sure you'd be dying in a few minutes anyway.

A loud ticking sound drew your attention to the back of the room. Horror twisted in your gut like a coil of snakes when you realized the cause.

It was the final countdown. You didn't have a _few minutes_ , you had a few _seconds_.

The bomb counted back from _five._

_Four._

_Three._

It was too little too late. There wasn't even any time left to try and run.

_Two._

_One._

You were all out of time.


	9. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Depression sucks. Especially since it screws with my ability to write, or worse yet revise... Can't seem to get myself to like anything I write. n.n
> 
> The bit in here that Joker does about the Asylum is actually a direct quote from him.

That one moment seemed to last for hours. As if the time it took to go from one to zero was somehow extended to give you the opportunity to make peace with your impending demise. Though you knew it was little more than fear and suspense that made it appear that way. Time was not shifting in the face of death, it was only your perception. 

You _perceived_ the coming of Death and your entire being seemed to await its arrival with trepid anticipation. 

The three of you stood there watching the timer, the broken console, and the machine where the gas had once flowed into the mechanism. Everything was still, quiet, and you were holding your breath waiting for that to change. 

Each second of suspended silence seemed more unreal than the last. Either the bomb had some kind of delay--which was certainly cruel enough to befit the Joker's tastes--or it wasn't going to explode. 

Well, that or the next life looked suspiciously like the first. 

You glanced over at the other two. Batman looked unphased and the Joker looked bemused. Basically they looked perfectly normal and not as if they were standing next to a massive bomb that was supposed to have blown them to bits. 

“Huh,” the Joker shrugged and shook his head with a smile. “A dud. That’s the last time I buy imported.” 

Something deep inside you seemed to fracture. Break. _Crack._ Like the quaking ground as it splits open up into a chasm that consumes its surroundings. You were consumed by the fracture—consumed by rage. Something in you snapped at either his joke or his easy going tone and you tackled him to the ground with something akin to a snarl before either of them could blink. 

“You _idiot_!” Batman quickly pulled you off, but you weren't going quietly. You were still very adamantly trying to get your hands around the clown's throat. “I could _kill_ you! _**Stop laughing**_!” The clown who was absolutely cracking up. 

“So _feisty_!” He snickered with a playful grin and a gleam in his eye that made your face feel suddenly scorching. It didn’t seem to put him off that you wanted to kill him. Rather, he seemed to greatly enjoy it. “There’s just so much to love about you, isn’t there?” 

His words colored your rage with equal parts pleasure and confusion. 

“Urgh!” You crossed your arms as Batman sat you aside like a toddler who'd misbehaved and outright refused to look at either of them. “Please get me out of here before I _wring his neck_!” 

If you had been looking, you might have caught the Batman smirk. Now wouldn't _that_ have been a sight to see? 

*** 

It was a _long_ trip up from the depths of the hellhole that had nearly been your tomb. Especially with the Joker cracking jokes the whole way up trying to get your attention. Mostly just ones about Batman. You weren't sure if they were jokes he made up himself, or if there was some kind superhero sub-genre that he was pulling them from. 

A few of them might have made you laugh if you weren't recovering from a heavy dose of terror and a massive yearning to beat the guy to death. A yearning that was about to make a head-smashing return if he kept running his damn mouth. 

"How many caped crusaders does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Hm? Any idea at all?" He was practically bouncing at your side, tilting his head to try and force it into your line of sight. "Give up? The answer is: none! They like the dark!" 

Batman had the patience of a saint. He hadn't even so much as sighed. 

"What is a Batman's favorite part of the joke?" He leaned as close as Batman would allow (which was sadly fairly close in the cramped elevator) and continued to try and catch your eye. You could see part of his mocking grin out of your peripheral. "Come on, this one's easy! No? Ah, fine!" He sighed and leaned back. "It's the 'punch' line." 

He sounded almost sulky as he said it and that made you feel just a little pleased. Mostly just vindictively so and at the idea. It was doubtful he was actually sullen over your lack of response. If the prospect of _death_ couldn't even get the guy down, you ignoring him sure as hell wouldn't. 

Still, it was a little pleasing to pointedly turn your back on him and walk out of that elevator. Sadly though, it was also unnerving to feel his eyes on your back the whole time. 

You focused on not tripping and tried not to think about the mad clown at your heels. Leashed or not, there was still the whole 'we made out' issue that hadn't been addressed yet and you were not looking forward to that. In fact, you were adamantly hoping to avoid it for as long as possible. Hopefully forever.

So you kept your eyes on the floor and your feet moving forward. Soon he would be in jail and you would be safe and snug in your bed… why did that make you feel disappointed? 

You were alive, relatively unharmed, and the Joker's diabolical plans had been shot to hell. Really, it seemed more appropriate to celebrate rather than mope. Yet there seemed to be something missing from the ending of this adventure and it wasn't a happy ending. You had that in that you weren't blown to hell and the city was safe. 

The bad guys had lost and the good guys had won, but that was so… _boring_? 

The word popped into your head colored by the Joker's brand of sarcasm. It nearly made you trip down the stairs leading outside. It wasn't his voice in your head, but it was _his tone_. That alone was cause for alarm. 

It had been a pretty wild night though. You were likely just suffering the aftereffects of stress, trauma, and a near death experience. Plus, it couldn't have helped your state of mind spending so much time with a nut-case like the Joker. 

You looked to the east where you could see the city skyline. It seemed all the more beautiful to you right then. The breeze smelled sweeter than city air possibly could and the moon shone brighter than the lights should have allowed. Everything was crisp and lovely in its own right. Even a dead, deserted street full of rotting buildings and garbage. You almost started laughing. 

Nearly dying really had addled your brain. 

"Easy there, Bats! You don't want to damage the goods." Curiosity got the better of you on that one. 

You glanced back to see Batman tying the Joker to a sturdy lamp post that looked like it had seen better days. Much like everything else in the neighborhood. It was grimy, chipped, and not working. The fact that you found its appearance improved with the addition of the Joker was a nugget of wisdom that could be found halfway between amusing and annoying. 

Regardless, you turned your attention back to the skyline. Even with the profoundness the sight seemed to hold, it was less confusing than what you felt looking at the Joker. Really, you should have hated the man with every fiber of your being after all the hell he’d put you through. This was mucked up though by attraction, gratitude, and even more unnerving feelings like excitement. He’d certainly livened things up. 

“My offer still stands, you know.” The out of the blue remark made you briefly forget that you were supposed to be ignoring him. 

“Huh?” When you turned to look at him, you realized that Batman wasn’t there. As usual, he wasn’t one for discussing his plans so much as doing them. 

Joker smirked at the fact that he’d caught your attention. “If you want to work for me, the offer still stands.” 

“Uh huh and how is that supposed to work with you being in jail and all?” Never mind the fact that he’d nearly gotten you killed several times that night. Not that he also hadn’t saved your life many times as well. 

He snickered. “Oh, don’t worry sweetie, I’ll be back before you have the chance to miss me.” 

“Oh, joy.” Was your sarcastic retort. 

Thankfully the rumble of a super powered engine cut out whatever Joker's reply to that was. The batmobile came to a stop and Batman jumped out to haul the Joker into it. Your only problem with that was when you realized just where he was putting him. 

There wasn't exactly much in the way of seating in the veritable tank that was his vehicle of choice. There was the front where Batman sat and a rear compartment that had two seats that folded out for easy entry and in for safety. It was a little disorienting and clustered riding in there alone. The thought of company back there made you want to hit something and throw up at the same time. 

You were sharing the backseat with Joker. Suddenly dying seemed like it might have been the better option. At least that wouldn’t have been nearly as complicated. 

*** 

"See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum. And one night, they decide they don't like living in the asylum anymore. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof, and _there_ , just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away into the moonlight. Stretching away to freedom. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his _friend_ , his friend daren't make the leap. Y'see... y'see, he's afraid of falling. So then the first guy has an idea... He says, 'Hey, I have a flashlight with me! I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk across the beam and join me!' But the second guy just shakes his head. He suh-says... he says 'Wh-what do you think I am? _Crazy_? You'd turn it off when I was halfway across!'" 

You raised your brows and tried not to smile. Not that he could exactly see your face what with the harnesses in the way. Yet just feeling amusement towards him felt enough like giving in. He really was determined to keep your attention, wasn't he? "Now, is that an actual story or just another one of your jokes?" 

He cackled a little and leaned forward as much as he could to get a look at you. It was kinda like trying to lean around one of those really thick roller-coaster harnesses. "Do you really want to know, or are you just trying not to laugh?" 

"You may not be able to see it too well, but I just rolled my eyes." You sassed as he slouched back into his seat. "And, in case that is too subtle, that means 'I don't find you funny, I find you annoying'." 

"You certainly found me funny _before_." He sounded so at ease and pleased. It didn't seem to bother him what you'd said. Maybe he was just appeased by the fact that you were speaking at all. "What changed I wonder… am I too much for you?" 

"Ha! Now THAT is funny." 

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. I've been known to be a little too much for women with… _delicate constitutions_." He was deliberately being an ass and you wished you could have reached over and smacked him. You were pretty sure you’d end up just hurting yourself trying though courtesy of the bulky harnesses. 

"Too much of a pain in the ass maybe…" You might have muttered a little something about that 'delicate' comment too, but odds are all he actually heard was the 'pain in the ass' part. 

Either way he laughed. 

The batmobile came to a sudden stop and you wondered briefly if Batman was coming back to shut Joker up. That the clown might have gotten under the bat’s skin was an amusing thought and one you quickly squashed. You were supposed to be angry at him, not amused. Plus if Batman hadn’t already beaten him senseless for all the crap he’d pulled in the last few hours alone, odds were pretty good he wasn’t going to over him running his mouth and laughing too loudly.

The door opened, the seats popped out, and Batman came around the side looking as impassive as always. The harnesses opened up and the Joker hopped right out with a merry little hum before Batman had to even touch him. You stepped out too and realized just why the tank had stopped, though the knowledge did something funny in your stomach that you didn’t much like. 

You were standing right outside Arkham and you didn’t feel as relieved by that as you should have. Or even as much as you wanted to. There was a knot in your stomach that twisted itself tighter and tighter as Batman led Joker away and the reason for it was sickening.

Part of you didn’t want him to go. As much as you tried to fight it, that part of you was afraid that you’d never see him again. Though never again crossing paths with the Joker should have been a good thing. _It should have_ … but it wasn’t. It was like a sad goodbye that you couldn’t bring yourself to say, even though you didn’t wholly understand just _why_ it was sad. 

Joker didn't seem worried or saddened, though he did resist Batman just a little so that he could turn back and send you a smile. "See ya soon, sugar~" 

He was certainly optimistic, you had to give him that. 

You sure as hell weren’t.


	10. Madness Indeed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter! Don't worry.. there will be more Joker after this. He's kinda my writing niche in that he's the only one I always feel comfortable working with... go figure on that one. ._.

The worst part of the whole experience should have been the ‘almost dying’. It really should've. Or, if not that, then the fact that you admittedly wondered about Joker from time to time. Maybe even missed his personality quirks a little. Just a smidge. Yet the absolute worst part of the whole ordeal was that you had up and lost the best gig you’d ever had. 

It hadn't exactly been a paying job or anything and you'd likely lost a few years off your life span out of fear alone, but it had been special. Working with Batman had given meaning to an otherwise boring and unassuming life. Sure, you could see his point in it being _safer_ if he never called on you again. You couldn't even truly begrudge him for walking away. It was just that… Working with him made you feel like you were doing something worthwhile. You had excitement to look forward to every now and again. You felt like you had some great, secret identity and it made getting through the humdrum grind of a nine to five job so much easier to live with. 

What did it matter that you hated your job and your shitty coworkers when every now and then you got to walk on the wild side and play sidekick to a bad ass vigilante? Admittedly you weren't out there beating bad guys to a pulp back to back, but you were partners. What you did _mattered_. It made you feel like you mattered. Regardless of what the rest of your life made you feel like. 

So having him just drop out of your life like that… stung. Even if you knew it was just for your protection. Even if you understood that it was for your own good. 

You didn’t want the safer route on this though. Danger and all you would have held onto being his sidekick even if he dragged you right into an early grave. At least doing that made you feel like you were actually alive and not just pretending. 

Whereas commuting home after overtime on a Friday with nothing to look forward to made you feel like a _zombie_. Only with a taste for ice cream rather than brains. 

You meandered off the train in a daze of boredom and fatigue, habitually avoiding the missing step leading up out of the terminal and into the streets. One more day on the grind. One more day of your life wasted testing software that wasn’t even worth hacking, let alone hacker-proofing. The only bright side was having two days off to look forward to. At least then you could waste time on things you actually enjoyed. 

It was dark out already, thanks to your boss having kept your nose to the grindstone for an extra four hours. The street lamp over the subway entrance flickered off and on, bathing you in orange before dousing you in shadows. Six months and no one had bothered to fix it yet of course. Just another boring, irksome aspect of a ‘normal life’.

Your gaze shot off from the fritzing lamp to the alley up ahead. A sudden sound drawing your attention and kicking your heart out of its dull rhythm. It sounded almost like, _laughter_. For some reason this stirred a reaction in you and it wasn’t fear. There was a lure there that moved you closer, not away. You heard it again when you were nearly at the opening and you hurried around the bend into the mouth of the alley without much thought of _danger_. It just sounded so familiar…

Suddenly you stopped and not because you wanted to. 

A knife pressed sharply into your ribcage and a hand clamped over your mouth. Someone's lips were at your ear and it made you feel dirty and angry all at one. Though the fear of getting stabbed was a little more prevalent and pressing. 

"Don't scream. Don't fight." A gravelly and obviously male voice warned. "Hand over your purse and don't turn around. This'll only hurt if you make it." 

Your fist clenched into a ball and you wondered if you could get to your mace without giving yourself away. You weren't entirely sure just where he was looking. 

He pressed the knife a little tighter and started to speak. Only someone else spoke first. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The familiarity of this particular voice brought a sense of shock that knocked your heart completely out of rhythm. _He_ was coming to your rescue? It couldn't be real. It had to be some sort of hallucination, but that only made you more afraid.

What did it say about you that you would envision _him_ of all people coming to save you? Batman was far more likely to come to your aid and a much saner option! 

Yet there he was. The Joker in all of his terrifying glory stepping out of the shadows before you the way a monster might step out of your nightmares and you were _relieved_. "I hear this one has some _**dangerous friends**_." 

The knife clattered to the ground before you could wrap your head around the fact that _the Joker was saving you again_. The mugger was staggering backwards, having removed his hands the way one might yank back them from an open flame. As if touching you had brought about a physical pain, or at least the fear of one. You knew before you even looked the terror you would see in him too. The fear it took for the one holding all the cards to up and fold like that. 

You never got to see his face though. Only his back as he bolted, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away. The mugger who’d sounded so seasoned and dangerous. Who’d known to put the knife somewhere not easily seen and was smart enough to stay hidden until you couldn’t scream. He’d taken one look at the Joker and ran for his life. 

What did it say that you stayed right there? That you felt safe there? 

Probably nothing good, but you didn’t bother to look too closely. 

Rather you shared in watching the man head for the hills before looking over at your savior. The Joker’s grin was wry and his tone was downright wicked. “Was it something I said?” 

You couldn’t help it. You smiled.

“That might have been part of it.” The mugger had already vanished into the night by the time you looked back, but rather than ponder the mystery of how far he might run you had another more puzzling one to deal with. 

And no, it wasn’t about what Joker was doing there. Something very fragrant had been thrust in front of your nose and you found that Joker was holding out an offering that was… alarming. 

Flowers. Taking them you expected the bouquet to explode or, at the very least, squirt you in the face. Oddly enough however, they seemed entirely harmless and this was more shocking than his rescue had been. The Joker was giving you flowers. That just didn’t seem like the kind of thing that actually _happened_. 

He put his arm around your shoulder and you looked up to catch him smirking at your surprise. The man really did love messing with your head, didn’t he? "We better get you home. You really do _attract danger_." 

For some reason, you got the feeling he wasn't talking about the would-be mugger. If anything that just made things even more confusing.

***

It felt _so weird_ leading the Joker into your apartment. Not to mention potentially moronic, but he did kinda save your life. Again. Plus he sort of seemed to already know exactly where you lived, since he more lead than followed you there. Somehow though, that was not your worst problem. That title went instead to his _arm_ owing to the fact that he’d kept it around you the entire way there. If your sanity hadn’t already been questionable from his rescue and the gift of flowers, two blocks of being tucked up under his arm certainly did the trick. Like two lovers taking a stroll…

Imagine the headlines if someone snapped a shot of that one. 

You tried not to. Mostly because you weren’t sure exactly how you’d explain it if someone recognized your face and the notion was a little horrifying. 

It was more like ‘imagine the cops pounding on your door and holding up that picture wanting an explanation’. That would be a tough one to talk your way out of. Especially since you doubted at any point your expression had shown the proper sorts of emotions one should feel in such a situation. You know: fear, tension, dread. It was far more likely that yours had been more along the lines of ‘flustered’. Not exactly a guilty sort of look, but not one that would vouch for your innocence with the Joker’s cackling smirk next to it. 

You tried not to think too much on it though and actually succeeded. After all, _he was there_. Some part of your fantastical other life waltzing through the doorway into your den of normality. 

“Nice digs,” he commented walking in with his hands in his pockets and that trademark grin on his face. “Very _you_.”

An odd compliment, but it felt like one none-the-less. “Thanks?” 

It was strange seeing him wandering around in your home. He seemed as out of place as a lion in a pet store. Far too exotic and unusual for such a domestic backdrop. 

“Hows ole’ Batsy been without me? You two talk about me much?” He flicked one of the little trinkets you had sitting on a stand before wandering back towards the living area. 

The subject hit a nerve, but you tried not to sound too put out by it. “Haven’t really seen him in awhile honestly.” 

“Let me guess,” he started with a smirk as he sat down on the couch. “Bats dropped you like a hot potato.” He said this easily and with far too much glee. “The old ‘it’s too dangerous for me to be around’ line, right?”

Your lack of response seemed to be answer enough and he patted the spot beside him with a mocking sort of pout. As if to say “come tell me all about it”. Instead, you sat on the table in front of him. A little bit safer through distance alone, but only just. It wasn’t much of a stretch. All he’d have to do was lean forward. Or you could. It was awfully tempting.

He clicked his tongue as if in disapproval. Though you weren’t sure of what. You not saying anything? You sitting somewhere else? “He still hasn’t learned how to just let a girl down _easy_. No tact at all, I’m afraid.” 

Apparently it was about Batman ‘letting you go’. Go figure. 

“I’m sure you could teach him a thing or two.” Despite the subject matter, you were startling to feel a little playful. It was hard not to banter and bicker with him. At least when he hadn’t given you cause to be angry or afraid. 

“I could, yes, but why share the secret to my success with someone so unappreciative?” He fired back with a wry grin and a shrug. “Besides, I’m not the type to throw out gems, sweetheart.” Your stomach jolted at both the endearment and the way he was smirking at you. “I plan on _keeping you_ once I have you.” 

He really was serious about offering you a job, wasn’t he? It probably should have given some pause that it was a deranged and dangerous criminal making the offer, but it still sounded so… wonderful. Like he’d flipped a switch that lit up your whole world again.

Though, you did at least try not to show just how greatly his words had influenced you. With someone like the Joker it was best to keep some things on the sly and not tip your hand too much. “No one trying to kill me this time, I hope.” 

Odds were good he knew anyway though. He seemed to know pretty much everything. Where you lived. What time you got off work. That you’d jump at a chance to escape your day to day life… He knew you much better than he should have and that did not frighten you nearly as much as it aught to. 

He smirked and you found that he looked quite endearing sprawled out comfortably on your couch. Very much like he actually belonged there. You liked that thought, as crazy as it might have been. You also liked the way he spoke as he shifted and opened his arms to you. An invitation so tantalizing you had no hope of refusing. Not when his voice was all darkness and velvet. 

“Not unless you’re into that sort of thing.” He said with a sinister smile that would have sent a sane person running. Instead you fell into his deadly embrace the way one might succumb to madness. Complete and absolute. _No chance of escape._

It felt like you belonged there too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! Thank you for sticking with my little story, I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to stay tuned for the sequel... eventually! :D


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